May the Horizon of Generosity Flourish!
Sep - Oct 2010
May the Horizon of Generosity Flourish!
The 31st president of United States of America, Herbert Clark Hoover was convening a high-level meeting in White House. He belonged to the Republican Party. Along with him were Vice-president Charles Curtis, Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon and Secretary of Commerce Robert P. Lamont. The meeting was regarding a serious financial issue. All the ministers of his cabinet knew about his decision-taking capacity and generosity. When Lamont praised his generosity, he said – ‘All this is due to the grace of world-renowned musician of Poland by name Petrovsky. If he had not shown his mercy on me, I would never have developed this divine quality of generosity. We shall discuss about that incident some other time.’ Saying so, he signed the document lying in front of him and moved on.
Once while strolling on the lawns of White House, he remembered the incidents of his earlier life. He was the son of a blacksmith. He was born on August 10th, 1874 in a town called Iowa on the banks of River Mississippi. His father Jesse Hoover was a blacksmith and was an embodiment of hard work and honesty. His mother’s name was Hulda and she hailed from Canada. Both his parents were followers of Quaker religion. None of his childhood memories were pleasant. He was merely 6 years when he lost his father and at the age of 9 he lost his mother. He was left an orphan with no one to take care of him.
At that time, some bitter memories about how his widowed mother had to fend for the family by sewing clothes also flashed across his mind. There were times when she did not get wages and had to feed dry bread to her children, while she herself drank water and filled her stomach. These memories brought unstoppable flow of tears in his eyes. By then, his wife Louise Henry approached him along with their sons Herbert and Allan. His wife was well aware that whenever he was left alone, he sank into past memories. Hence she took care not to leave him alone for long. She had met Hoover when he joined the California College of Stanford University in 1891. They both were united in marriage in 1899. Since Hoover was an engineer, he had gone to China for his job.
Financial crisis during his childhood had prevented him from going beyond High school. But his immense interest in studies propelled him to sell newspapers during the day and study in night school. His childhood and youth were spent in dire poverty, but these circumstances did not deter him from his objective.
During the days when he was studying in California College, well-renowned musician from Poland named Petrovsky visited California along with his band. An idea flashed in the mind of Hoover, who was tormented by poverty. He made a contract of $2000 with Petrovsky according to which Hoover would sell the tickets for the music show and give $2000 to Petrovsky and retain any amount in excess with himself. But the tryst with destiny was such that, instead of making any profit, he was left with the problem of how he could pay $2000. Very few tickets could be sold. When he did not see any way out, he confessed his state of affairs to Petrovsky.
Petrovsky listened to the details with great attention and said, ‘Son, do not worry. One keeps incurring profits and losses in life. What is important is to be unaffected by them and have steadfast faith on your goal. You will definitely succeed one day.’ Out of his generosity Petrovsky said to Hoover, ‘Do not pay me any money. Try to settle the amount you have got by selling tickets towards the expenses of the program.’ This generous nature of Petrosky brought tears of gratefulness in Hoover’s eyes. His throat choked with gratitude and could not speak. When Petrovsky left California, he summoned Hoover and placed some money in his hand and said, ‘This is the remuneration for your unwavering faith and hard work. Accept this and be generous to the needy whom you encounter in your life.’
Hoover had carefully treasured these memories so that he could put them into action at the opportune moment. He was sharing these memories and the inspiration embedded therein with Lamont who had posed the question during the cabinet meeting. He told Lamont, ‘Generosity is that divine quality that emerges from emotional plane. It is not a topic for logic. When looked at with a logical mind, generosity seems to be an unprofitable proposition. When we are generous, we are ready to bear some loss so that we can make others happy.’ When Hoover described generosity to be contagious, Lamont was puzzled. Hoover explained, ‘By contagious, I mean that it spreads from one person to another in a speedy manner. When bacteria and virus spread, it results in disease. It is unfortunate that we cannot think of positive traits being contagious whereas we can easily envisage diseases.
’
President Hoover said, ‘Petrovsky was the source of generosity. That generosity entered me and even till date I feel him inside me. Such generosity is widely present in the countries of the East, especially India. Just as politics is an inseparable part of our life, generosity and other noble qualities are a part of Indian life style. Even an uneducated Indian is rich with this quality.’
Lamont sought to assuage his curiosity and asked, ‘Is generosity related to education in any way?’ The president said, ‘Generosity is related to the heart while education propels us towards earning our living. If the education was focused on imbibing these noble qualities, then my answer would have been in the affirmative. I am able to say this so confidently because I had heard a discourse of a philosopher while I studied in California College. He had come from India and the topic of his talk was ‘Elements of Indian culture’. During his talk, he mentioned generosity among other noble qualities. When I heard the talk, I did not think about it seriously. I had even considered it with doubt and questioned it within. When I saw this quality exhibited by Petrovsky towards me, all doubts, disbelief and questions vanished. Then I was lost in thought wondering about how great such a nation and its culture must be when this noble quality ran in their veins.
Lamont asked, ‘When did you get an opportunity to exhibit this quality in your life?’ Hoover said, ‘I had worked in several gold mines in Big Bell, Cue, Leonora, Menzies and Coolgardie and earned millions of dollars. During the First World War (1914-1918), the economy of Europe was in very worrisome state. It was during this time that I could show generosity. I reached Europe with 500 volunteers and distributed food, clothes and other things for daily use by visiting from door to door. The situation was so bad due to war that we had to distribute till wee hours of morning and then start all over again the following day. There were times when we had to sleep on the roads.’ When Germany attacked Belgium in 1914, there was serious crisis for food there. Everybody, including children, women, young and old, was starving for food. Hoover then came up with the idea like never before to handle this crisis. Because of his active involvement, there was a flood of contributions from both private and government organizations because of which he was able to get a grant of 11 million dollars from the government.
He said, ‘For the next two years we had to work for almost 14-16 hours per day in distributing 3.5 lakhs million tons of food to more than 9 lakh people of London inflicted by the war.’ As recognition for his generous heart and tireless efforts, the Belgian city of Leuven named a prominent square Hooverplein after him. Seeing his wonderful dedication, the president of United States Woodrow Wilson made him the Head of U.S. Food Administration in April 1914. Hoover believed “food will win the war.” He established set days to encourage people to avoid eating particular foods to save them for soldiers’ rations: meatless Mondays, wheatless Wednesdays, and “when in doubt, eat potatoes.” This program helped reduce consumption of foodstuffs needed overseas and avoided rationing at home. This initiative worked wonders. After the war, as a member of the Supreme Economic Council and head of the American Relief Administration, Hoover organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Central Europe.
Hoover provided aid to the defeated German nation after the war, as well as relief to famine-stricken Bolshevik-controlled areas of Russia in 1921, despite the opposition from other Republicans. Hoover, by his childhood experience very well knew the pain of starvation and hence he always distributed food with open hands. In the course of all these happenings, Hoover never forgot Petrovsky of Poland and helped that country also immensely. Because of his commendable work, he was named as one of the top 10 important and distinguished Americans by New York Times. In this way, he became famous and was made the 31st president of United States (1929 – 1933). He spoke in his very first inaugural speech – ‘we shall soon with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation’.
During his presidential tenure, Great Depression occurred in 1930. European nations expressed their inability to repay their debts to America and Hoover dealt with them with extreme generosity. It was Petrovsky’s influence that Hoover never treated any debtor harshly or insulted them. He even showed sympathy and helped them from time to time. He did several things to tide over this depression.
President Hoover while in his post as a president and even after that continued to exhibit the quality that he inherited from Petrovsky and always helped the poor and the needy. On 19th October, 1934 he told his people – ‘Never be cruel to anyone in your life. Always be compassionate and generous.’ On the very next day, 20th October at 11.30 AM he left his mortal body to higher realms never to return. But his life will continue to inspire generations to come.
If you want to make friends, you must be friendly. If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful.
The 31st president of United States of America, Herbert Clark Hoover was convening a high-level meeting in White House. He belonged to the Republican Party. Along with him were Vice-president Charles Curtis, Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon and Secretary of Commerce Robert P. Lamont. The meeting was regarding a serious financial issue. All the ministers of his cabinet knew about his decision-taking capacity and generosity. When Lamont praised his generosity, he said – ‘All this is due to the grace of world-renowned musician of Poland by name Petrovsky. If he had not shown his mercy on me, I would never have developed this divine quality of generosity. We shall discuss about that incident some other time.’ Saying so, he signed the document lying in front of him and moved on.
Once while strolling on the lawns of White House, he remembered the incidents of his earlier life. He was the son of a blacksmith. He was born on August 10th, 1874 in a town called Iowa on the banks of River Mississippi. His father Jesse Hoover was a blacksmith and was an embodiment of hard work and honesty. His mother’s name was Hulda and she hailed from Canada. Both his parents were followers of Quaker religion. None of his childhood memories were pleasant. He was merely 6 years when he lost his father and at the age of 9 he lost his mother. He was left an orphan with no one to take care of him.
At that time, some bitter memories about how his widowed mother had to fend for the family by sewing clothes also flashed across his mind. There were times when she did not get wages and had to feed dry bread to her children, while she herself drank water and filled her stomach. These memories brought unstoppable flow of tears in his eyes. By then, his wife Louise Henry approached him along with their sons Herbert and Allan. His wife was well aware that whenever he was left alone, he sank into past memories. Hence she took care not to leave him alone for long. She had met Hoover when he joined the California College of Stanford University in 1891. They both were united in marriage in 1899. Since Hoover was an engineer, he had gone to China for his job.
Financial crisis during his childhood had prevented him from going beyond High school. But his immense interest in studies propelled him to sell newspapers during the day and study in night school. His childhood and youth were spent in dire poverty, but these circumstances did not deter him from his objective.
During the days when he was studying in California College, well-renowned musician from Poland named Petrovsky visited California along with his band. An idea flashed in the mind of Hoover, who was tormented by poverty. He made a contract of $2000 with Petrovsky according to which Hoover would sell the tickets for the music show and give $2000 to Petrovsky and retain any amount in excess with himself. But the tryst with destiny was such that, instead of making any profit, he was left with the problem of how he could pay $2000. Very few tickets could be sold. When he did not see any way out, he confessed his state of affairs to Petrovsky.
Petrovsky listened to the details with great attention and said, ‘Son, do not worry. One keeps incurring profits and losses in life. What is important is to be unaffected by them and have steadfast faith on your goal. You will definitely succeed one day.’ Out of his generosity Petrovsky said to Hoover, ‘Do not pay me any money. Try to settle the amount you have got by selling tickets towards the expenses of the program.’ This generous nature of Petrosky brought tears of gratefulness in Hoover’s eyes. His throat choked with gratitude and could not speak. When Petrovsky left California, he summoned Hoover and placed some money in his hand and said, ‘This is the remuneration for your unwavering faith and hard work. Accept this and be generous to the needy whom you encounter in your life.’
Hoover had carefully treasured these memories so that he could put them into action at the opportune moment. He was sharing these memories and the inspiration embedded therein with Lamont who had posed the question during the cabinet meeting. He told Lamont, ‘Generosity is that divine quality that emerges from emotional plane. It is not a topic for logic. When looked at with a logical mind, generosity seems to be an unprofitable proposition. When we are generous, we are ready to bear some loss so that we can make others happy.’ When Hoover described generosity to be contagious, Lamont was puzzled. Hoover explained, ‘By contagious, I mean that it spreads from one person to another in a speedy manner. When bacteria and virus spread, it results in disease. It is unfortunate that we cannot think of positive traits being contagious whereas we can easily envisage diseases.
’
President Hoover said, ‘Petrovsky was the source of generosity. That generosity entered me and even till date I feel him inside me. Such generosity is widely present in the countries of the East, especially India. Just as politics is an inseparable part of our life, generosity and other noble qualities are a part of Indian life style. Even an uneducated Indian is rich with this quality.’
Lamont sought to assuage his curiosity and asked, ‘Is generosity related to education in any way?’ The president said, ‘Generosity is related to the heart while education propels us towards earning our living. If the education was focused on imbibing these noble qualities, then my answer would have been in the affirmative. I am able to say this so confidently because I had heard a discourse of a philosopher while I studied in California College. He had come from India and the topic of his talk was ‘Elements of Indian culture’. During his talk, he mentioned generosity among other noble qualities. When I heard the talk, I did not think about it seriously. I had even considered it with doubt and questioned it within. When I saw this quality exhibited by Petrovsky towards me, all doubts, disbelief and questions vanished. Then I was lost in thought wondering about how great such a nation and its culture must be when this noble quality ran in their veins.
Lamont asked, ‘When did you get an opportunity to exhibit this quality in your life?’ Hoover said, ‘I had worked in several gold mines in Big Bell, Cue, Leonora, Menzies and Coolgardie and earned millions of dollars. During the First World War (1914-1918), the economy of Europe was in very worrisome state. It was during this time that I could show generosity. I reached Europe with 500 volunteers and distributed food, clothes and other things for daily use by visiting from door to door. The situation was so bad due to war that we had to distribute till wee hours of morning and then start all over again the following day. There were times when we had to sleep on the roads.’ When Germany attacked Belgium in 1914, there was serious crisis for food there. Everybody, including children, women, young and old, was starving for food. Hoover then came up with the idea like never before to handle this crisis. Because of his active involvement, there was a flood of contributions from both private and government organizations because of which he was able to get a grant of 11 million dollars from the government.
He said, ‘For the next two years we had to work for almost 14-16 hours per day in distributing 3.5 lakhs million tons of food to more than 9 lakh people of London inflicted by the war.’ As recognition for his generous heart and tireless efforts, the Belgian city of Leuven named a prominent square Hooverplein after him. Seeing his wonderful dedication, the president of United States Woodrow Wilson made him the Head of U.S. Food Administration in April 1914. Hoover believed “food will win the war.” He established set days to encourage people to avoid eating particular foods to save them for soldiers’ rations: meatless Mondays, wheatless Wednesdays, and “when in doubt, eat potatoes.” This program helped reduce consumption of foodstuffs needed overseas and avoided rationing at home. This initiative worked wonders. After the war, as a member of the Supreme Economic Council and head of the American Relief Administration, Hoover organized shipments of food for millions of starving people in Central Europe.
Hoover provided aid to the defeated German nation after the war, as well as relief to famine-stricken Bolshevik-controlled areas of Russia in 1921, despite the opposition from other Republicans. Hoover, by his childhood experience very well knew the pain of starvation and hence he always distributed food with open hands. In the course of all these happenings, Hoover never forgot Petrovsky of Poland and helped that country also immensely. Because of his commendable work, he was named as one of the top 10 important and distinguished Americans by New York Times. In this way, he became famous and was made the 31st president of United States (1929 – 1933). He spoke in his very first inaugural speech – ‘we shall soon with the help of God, be in sight of the day when poverty will be banished from this nation’.
During his presidential tenure, Great Depression occurred in 1930. European nations expressed their inability to repay their debts to America and Hoover dealt with them with extreme generosity. It was Petrovsky’s influence that Hoover never treated any debtor harshly or insulted them. He even showed sympathy and helped them from time to time. He did several things to tide over this depression.
President Hoover while in his post as a president and even after that continued to exhibit the quality that he inherited from Petrovsky and always helped the poor and the needy. On 19th October, 1934 he told his people – ‘Never be cruel to anyone in your life. Always be compassionate and generous.’ On the very next day, 20th October at 11.30 AM he left his mortal body to higher realms never to return. But his life will continue to inspire generations to come.
If you want to make friends, you must be friendly. If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful.
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Page Titles
- Follow the Middle Path - Amrit Chintan
- What Has Happened to the Enlightened Souls?
- Flow of Vital Energy and “Swara Yoga”
- May the Horizon of Generosity Flourish!
- ‘I Surrender Myself to You, Gurudev!’ – 4
- Youth Must Develop Willpower
- Are You Aware of the Supernormal Benefits of Gayatri? – 3
- Sadhana for a Happy Ending of Life: TheYoga of constancy – 3
- Ailments of Sinus and Their Treatment Through Yoga
- Are We Educated?
- The Blazing Torch of Thought Revolution
- Some Key-Aspects of Navaratri Sadhana - Amritvani
- Highlights of Birth Centenary Program – 2
- Shantikunj News
